Coach sees tough Jones Cup

MANILA, Philippines — Smart Gilas Pilipinas mentor Rajko Toroman expects rough sailing when his team sees action in the William Jones Cup beginning Saturday at the Sinjhuang Stadium, New Taipei City in Taipei as they will be up against Asian powerhouses Iran, Jordan and South Korea.

“It will be a great competition for us. It’s going to be tough but we can learn from this tournament,” Toroman said.

The national team will leave for Taipei Friday, and Toroman believes their recent competitions, which include the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup last May and the exhibition game against NBA superstars led by Kobe Bryant and Derrick Rose, have helped them prepare for the Jones Cup.

“I think the Champions Cup and the game against the NBA superstars proved that the team is very competitive,” he said. “Now we just need to gel with more games with the PBA players. We don’t need injury now.”

In the Jones Cup, the Nationals are expected to be backstopped by Meralco’s Asi Taulava and Air21’s Dondon Hontiveros after their respective teams were eliminated in the ongoing PBA Governors’ Cup.

Toroman is also hoping that Talk ‘N Text’s Jimmy Alapag, Kelly Williams and Ranidel de Ocampo could join the team, but with the Texters earning a slot in the best-of-seven PBA finals, the possibility looks bleak. The PBA championship round is expected to start next week.

Taulava and Hontiveros have been training with the team daily since the elimination of their PBA squads, while Alapag, Williams and de Ocampo – the late addition to the team – are training both for Smart-Gilas and TNT.

The Nationals are made up of Chris Tiu, JV Casio, Mark Barroca, Mac Baracael, Japeth Aguilar, Dylan Ababou, Jason Ballesteros, Chris Lutz, Marcio Lassiter and Marcus Douthit.

Waylon Galvez, Manila Bulletin